Greece wildfires: firefighters battle to save homes in Athens

Firefighters are waging an intense battle to save hundreds of homes in Athens
from a massive wildfire.

The blaze has destroyed over 12,000 hectares of forest and gutted scores of properties in three days.

The fire remains out of control east of the capital where over 500 firefighters including a Cypriot contingent fought to save the communities of Daou Penteli and Nea Makri, and contain the blaze from moving northwards.

"It's a slightly better day today, the winds are weaker though we expect them to pick up again later," a spokesman said.

Two Italian and a French 'waterbomber' aircraft joined a Greek fleet of nine planes and four helicopters in the area. Residents made frantic appeals on national television as the flames neared.

In the central region of Viotia where 25 people were picked up from a beach late Sunday, and other conflagrations tied down crews in southern Evia island and the island of Zakynthos.

Related Articles

The inferno is the worst since a swathe of 2007 wildfires that claimed 77 lives around the country. So far casualties have been averted, but over a dozen homes have been gutted and scores more are feared lost.

The fire near Athens started late Friday in a rural area of Grammatiko, around 25 miles from the capital, earmarked for a new waste disposal facility strongly opposed by local residents.

Thick plumes of smoke hung over the Acropolis as the fires burned unchecked across a 25-mile front.

Ash fell on the streets of the capital and clouds of black smoke filling the skyline were so thick that they obscured the sun.

Residents fled the fires on foot, by motorbike and in cars, as dozens of homes were burned to the ground, although so far only two people have been admitted to hospital, one with burns and the other with a heart-related problem.

The area under threat included the town of Marathon which provides the main source of Athens' water supply.

Fires also threatened the archaeological site of Rhamnus, home to two 2,500-year-old temples, while the Greek coastguard had vessels on standby to transport any residents trapped in coastal areas.

Strong winds and temperatures of 104F fanned the fires towards Greece's northern and eastern suburbs, scorching 30,000 acres of rugged scrub land, cutting a swathe through one of the last forests around Athens and destroying homes.

Local authorities using loudspeakers to advise 20,000 people in the suburb of Aghios Stefanos to abandon their homes and evacuate the area. Some residents defied the warning, frantically trying to stop the flames from reaching their houses with garden hoses and tree branches.

"The destruction is enormous," said the deputy mayor of the area, Panagiotis Bitakos. "We had been begging the authorities since early in the morning to send forces ... It is too late now. Too late. They allowed one fire to destroy all of Attica."

Frightened locals gathered in the main square as flames closed in on them and water-bombing planes made repeated passes to try to douse the fires.

The fire came within 12 miles of central Athens and reached the suburbs of Pallini, Penteli, Dionysus and Stamata, prompting a state of emergency to be declared.

"We are facing a great ordeal," said the prime minister, Costas Karamanlis. "The fire department is making a superhuman effort.

"A massive effort by authorities is taking place to deal with this very difficult challenge."

"The winds are stronger and change direction all the time, spreading the fire even further," said fire brigade spokesman Giannis Kapakis.

Greek authorities declared a state of emergency in eastern Attica on Saturday where the flames burned about 30,000 acres of forest, farming fields and olive groves.

"The situation is tragic. Fires are out of control on many fronts," said the governor of greater Athens, Yiannis Sgouros said. "Athens had an area of greenery that now has gone. It is an ecological disaster."

As the situation worsened, European Union countries started to send much needed reinforcements, with two Italian aircraft joining fire fighting efforts along with helicopters from France and Cyprus.

Mr Karamanlis toured the area and chaired an emergency government meeting as the Greek weather service warned winds were not expected to abate before Monday night, hindering fire fighting efforts.

The handling of the fire, the biggest since more than 70 people were killed during a 10-day inferno in 2007, will be crucial for the government, which faces a snap election by March. The government has only a one-seat majority in parliament and trails the socialist opposition in opinion polls.

The fire started late on Friday in an area around 25 miles northeast of Athens that has been earmarked for a new waste disposal facility strongly opposed by local residents.

Strong winds pushed it towards neighbouring villages and Athens suburbs. A children's hospital and a home for the elderly were evacuated, as well as campsites and villages. The army removed anti-aircraft missiles from a military base as the flames approached.

Gale-force winds have fanned more than 100 blazes across Greece in the last three days and authorities said a "gigantic mobilisation" was under way to tackle them.